The Life of Thomas Telford by Smiles (Civil Engineer with an Introductory History of Roads and Travelling in Great Britian)

The Life of Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer

The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer: With an Introductory History of Roads and Traveling in Great Britain

The Life of Thomas Telford, Civil Engineer: With an Introductory History of Roads and Travelling in Great Britain (Classic Reprint)

The life of Thomas Telford, civil engineer: With an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain

making their way in the world, each man for himself. So they swarmoff--some to America, some to Australia, some to India, and some,like Telford, work their way across the border and up to London."

One would scarcely have expected to find the birthplace of thebuilder of the Menai Bridge and other great national works in soobscure a corner of the kingdom. Possibly it may already havestruck the reader with surprise, that not only were all the earlyengineers self-taught in their profession, but they were brought upmostly in remote country places, far from the active life of greattowns and cities. But genius is of no locality, and springs alikefrom the farmhouse, the peasant's hut, or the herd's shieling.Strange, indeed, it is that the men who have built our bridges,docks, lighthouses, canals, and railways, should nearly all havebeen country-bred boys: Edwards and Brindley, the sons of smallfarmers; Smeaton, brought up in his father's country house atAusthorpe; Rennie, the son of a farmer and freeholder; andStephenson, reared in a colliery village, an engine-tenter's son.But Telford, even more than any of these, was a purely country-bredboy, and was born and brought up in a valley so secluded that itcould not even boast of a cluster of houses of the dimensions of avillage.

Telford's father was a herd on the sheep-farm of Glendinning.The farm consists of green hills, lying along the valley of the Meggat,a little burn, which descends from the moorlands on the east, andfalls into the Esk near the hamlet of Westerkirk. John Telford'scottage was little better than a shieling, consisting of four mudwalls, spanned by a thatched roof. It stood upon a knoll near thelower end of a gully worn in the hillside by the torrents of manywinters.

The ground stretches away from it in a long sweeping slope up tothe sky, and is green to the top, except where the bare grey rocksin some places crop out to the day. From the knoll may be seenmiles on miles of hills up and down the valley, winding in and out,sometimes branching off into smaller glens, each with its gurglingrivulet of peaty-brown water flowing down from the mosses above.Only a narrow strip of arable land is here and there visible alongthe bottom of the dale, all above being sheep-pasture, moors, androcks. At Glendinning you seem to have got almost to the world's end.There the road ceases, and above it stretch trackless moors,the solitude of which is broken only by the whimpling sound of theburns on their way to the valley below, the hum of bees gatheringhoney among the heather, the whirr of a blackcock on the wing, theplaintive cry of the ewes at lambing-time, or the sharp bark of theshepherd's dog gathering the flock together for the fauld.

[Image] Telford's Birthplace

In this cottage on the knoll Thomas Telford was born on the 9th ofAugust, 1757, and before the year was out he was already an orphan.The shepherd, his father, died in the month of November, and wasburied in Westerkirk churchyard, leaving behind him his widow andher only child altogether unprovided for. We may here mention thatone of the first things which that child did, when he had grown upto manhood and could "cut a headstone," was to erect one with thefollowing inscription, hewn and lettered by himself, over hisfather's grave: "IN MEMORY OF JOHN TELFORD, WHO AFTER LIVING 33 YEARS AN UNBLAMEABLE SHEPHERD, DIED AT GLENDINNING, NOVEMBER, 1757,"

a simple but poetical epitaph, which Wordsworth himself might havewritten.

The widow had a long and hard struggle with the world before her;but she encountered it bravely. She had her boy to work for, and,destitute though she was, she had him to educate. She was helped,as the poor so often are, by those of her own condition, and thereis no sense of degradation in receiving such help. One of therisks of benevolence is its tendency to lower the recipient to thecondition of an alms-taker. Doles from poor's-boxes have thisenfeebling effect; but a poor neighbour giving a destitute widow ahelp in her time of need is felt to be a friendly act, and is alikeelevating to the character of both. Though misery such as iswitnessed in large towns was quite unknown in the valley, there waspoverty; but it was honest as well as hopeful, and none feltashamed of it. The farmers of the dale were very primitive*[4]in their manners and habits, and being a warm-hearted, though by nomeans a demonstrative race, they were kind to the widow and herfatherless boy. They took him by turns to live with them at theirhouses, and gave his mother occasional employment. In summer shemilked the ewes and made hay, and in harvest she went a-shearing;contriving not only to live, but to be cheerful.

The house to which the widow and her son removed at the Whitsuntidefollowing the death of her husband was at a place called The Crooks,about midway between Glendinning and Westerkirk. It was a thatchedcot-house, with two ends; in one of which lived Janet Telford(more commonly known by her own name of Janet Jackson) and her sonTom, and in the other her neighbour Elliot; one door being common toboth.

[Image] Cottage at the Crooks.

Young Telford grew up a healthy boy, and he was so full of fun andhumour that he became known in the valley by the name of "LaughingTam." When he was old enough to herd sheep he went to live with arelative, a shepherd like his father, and he spent most of his timewith him in summer on the hill-side amidst the silence of nature.In winter he lived with one or other of the neighbouring farmers.He herded their cows or ran errands, receiving for recompense hismeat, a pair of stockings, and five shillings a year for clogs.These were his first wages, and as he grew older they weregradually increased.

But Tom must now be put to school, and, happily, small though theparish of Westerkirk was, it possessed the advantage of thatadmirable institution, the parish school. The legal provision madeat an early period for the education of the people in Scotland,proved one of their greatest boons. By imparting the rudiments ofknowledge to all, the parish schools of the country placed thechildren of the peasantry on a more equal footing with the childrenof the rich; and to that extent redressed the inequalities offortune. To start a poor boy on the road of life withoutinstruction, is like starting one on a race with his eyes bandagedor his leg tied up. Compared with the educated son of the rich man,the former has but little chance of sighting the winning post.

To our orphan boy the merely elementary teaching provided at theparish school of Westerkirk was an immense boon. To master this wasthe first step of the ladder he was afterwards to mount: his ownindustry, energy, and ability must do the rest. To schoolaccordingly he went, still working a-field or herding cattle duringthe summer months. Perhaps his own "penny fee" helped to pay theteacher's hire; but it is supposed that his cousin Jackson defrayedthe principal part of the expense of his instruction. It was notmuch that he learnt; but in acquiring the arts of reading, writing,and figures, he learnt the beginnings of a great deal. Apart fromthe question of learning, there was another manifest advantage tothe poor boy in mixing freely at the parish school with the sons ofthe neighbouring farmers and proprietors. Such intercourse has aninfluence upon a youth's temper, manners, and tastes, which isquite as important in the education of character as the lessons ofthe master himself; and Telford often, in after life, referred withpleasure to the benefits which he had derived from his early schoolfriendships. Among those to whom he was accustomed to look backwith most pride, were the two elder brothers of the Malcolm family,both of whom rose to high rank in the service of their country;William Telford, a youth of great promise, a naval surgeon,who died young; and the brothers William and Andrew Little, the formerof whom settled down as a farmer in Eskdale, and the latter,a surgeon, lost his eyesight when on service off the coast of Africa.Andrew Little afterwards established himself as a teacher atLangholm, where he educated, amongst others, General Sir CharlesPasley, Dr. Irving, the Custodier of the Advocate's Library atEdinburgh; and others known to fame beyond the bounds of theirnative valley. Well might Telford say, when an old man, full ofyears and honours, on sitting down to write his autobiography,"I still recollect with pride and pleasure my native parish ofWesterkirk, on the banks of the Esk, where I was born."

[Image] Westerkirk Church and School.

Footnotes for Chapter I.

*[1] Sir Waiter Scott, in his notes to the 'Minstrelsy of theScottish Border,' says that the common people of the high parts ofLiddlesdale and the country adjacent to this day hold the memory ofJohnnie Armstrong in very high respect.

*[2] It was long before the Reformation flowed into the secludedvalley of the Esk; but when it did, the energy of the Borderersdisplayed itself in the extreme form of their opposition to the oldreligion. The Eskdale people became as resolute in theircovenanting as they had before been in their free-booting; themoorland fastnesses of the moss-troopers becoming the haunts of thepersecuted ministers in the reign of the second James. A littleabove Langholm is a hill known as "Peden's View," and the well inthe green hollow at its foot is still called "Peden's Well"--thatplace having been the haunt of Alexander Peden, the "prophet." Hishiding-place was among the alder-bushes in the hollow, while fromthe hill-top he could look up the valley, and see whether theJohnstones of Wester Hall were coming. Quite at the head of thesame valley, at a place called Craighaugh, on Eskdale Muir, oneHislop, a young covenanter, was shot by Johnstone's men, and buriedwhere he fell; a gray slabstone still marking the place of his rest.Since that time, however, quiet has reigned in Eskdale, and itssmall population have gone about their daily industry from onegeneration to another in peace. Yet though secluded and apparentlyshut out by the surrounding hills from the outer world, there isnot a throb of the nation's heart but pulsates along the valley;and when the author visited it some years since, he found that awave of the great Volunteer movement had flowed into Eskdale;and the "lads of Langholm" were drilling and marching under theirchief, young Mr. Malcolm of the Burnfoot, with even more zeal thanin the populous towns and cities of the south.

*[3] The names of the families in the valley remain very nearly thesame as they were three hundred years ago--the Johnstones, Littles,Scotts, and Beatties prevailing above Langholm; and the Armstrongs,Bells, Irwins, and Graemes lower down towards Canobie and Netherby.It is interesting to find that Sir David Lindesay, in his curiousdrama published in 'Pinkerton's Scottish Poems' vol. ii., p. 156,gives these as among the names of the borderers some three hundredyears since. One Common Thift, when sentenced to condignpunishment, thus remembers his Border friends in his dying speech:

Adew! Robsons, Howis, and Pylis, That in our craft hes mony wilis: Littlis, Trumbells, and Armestranges; Baileowes, Erewynis, and Elwandis, Speedy of flicht, and slicht of handis; The Scotts of Eisdale, and the Gramis, I haf na time to tell your nameis."

Telford, or Telfer, is an old name in the same neighbourhood,commemorated in the well known border ballad of 'Jamie Telfer ofthe fair Dodhead.' Sir W. Scott says, in the 'Minstrelsy,' that"there is still a family of Telfers. residing near Langholm , whopretend to derive their descent from the Telfers of the Dodhead."A member of the family of "Pylis" above mentioned, is said to havemigrated from Ecclefechan southward to Blackburn, and there foundedthe celebrated Peel family.

*[4] We were informed in the valley that about the time of Telford'sbirth there were only two tea-kettles in the whole parish ofWesterkirk, one of which was in the house of Sir James Johnstoneof Wester Hall, and the other at "The Burn," the residence ofMr. Pasley, grandfather of General Sir Charles Pasley.

CHAPTER II.

LANGHOLM--TELFORD LEARNS THE TRADE OF A STONEMASON.

The time arrived when young Telford must be put to some regularcalling. Was he to be a shepherd like his father and his uncle,or was he to be a farm-labourer, or put apprentice to a trade?There was not much choice; but at length it was determined to bindhim to a stonemason. In Eskdale that trade was for the most partconfined to the building of drystone walls, and there was verylittle more art employed in it than an ordinarily neat-handedlabourer could manage. It was eventually decided to send theyouth--and he was now a strong lad of about fifteen--to a mason atLochmaben, a small town across the hills to the westward, where alittle more building and of a better sort--such as of farm-houses,barns, and road-bridges--was carried on than in his own immediateneighbourhood. There he remained only a few months; for his masterusing him badly, the high-spirited youth would not brook it, andran away, taking refuge with his mother at The Crooks, very much toher dismay.

What was now to be done with Tom? He was willing to do anything orgo anywhere rather than back to his Lochmaben master. In thisemergency his cousin Thomas Jackson, the factor or land-steward atWester Hall, offered to do what he could to induce Andrew Thomson,a small mason at Langholm, to take Telford for the remainder of hisapprenticeship; and to him he went accordingly. The businesscarried on by his new master was of a very humble sort. Telford,in his autobiography, states that most of the farmers' houses in thedistrict then consisted of "one storey of mud walls, or rubblestones bedded in clay, and thatched with straw, rushes, or heather;the floors being of earth, and the fire in the middle, having aplastered creel chimney for the escape of the smoke; while, insteadof windows, small openings in the thick mud walls admitted a scantylight." The farm-buildings were of a similarly wretcheddescription.

The principal owner of the landed property in the neighbourhood wasthe Duke of Buccleugh. Shortly after the young Duke Henry succeededto the title and estates, in 1767, he introduced considerableimprovements in the farmers' houses and farm-steadings, and thepeasants' dwellings, as well as in the roads throughout Eskdale.Thus a demand sprang up for masons' labour, and Telford's masterhad no want of regular employment for his hands. Telford profitedby the experience which this increase in the building operations ofthe neighbourhood gave him; being employed in raising rough wallsand farm enclosures, as well as in erecting bridges across riverswherever regular roads for wheel carriages were substituted for thehorse-tracks formerly in use.

During the greater part of his apprenticeship Telford lived in thelittle town of Langholm, taking frequent opportunities of visitinghis mother at The Crooks on Saturday evenings, and accompanying herto the parish church of Westerkirk on Sundays. Langholm was then avery poor place, being no better in that respect than the districtthat surrounded it. It consisted chiefly of mud hovels, coveredwith thatch--the principal building in it being the Tolbooth,a stone and lime structure, the upper part of which was used as ajustice-hall and the lower part as a gaol. There were, however,a few good houses in the little town, occupied by people of thebetter class, and in one of these lived an elderly lady, Miss Pasley,one of the family of the Pasleys of Craig. As the town was sosmall that everybody in it knew everybody else, the ruddyy-cheeked,laughing mason's apprentice soon became generally known to all thetownspeople, and amongst others to Miss Pasley. When she heard thathe was the poor orphan boy from up the valley, the son of thehard-working widow woman, Janet Jackson, so "eident" and soindustrious, her heart warmed to the mason's apprentice, and shesent for him to her house. That was a proud day for Tom; and whenhe called upon her, he was not more pleased with Miss Pasley'skindness than delighted at the sight of her little library ofbooks, which contained more volumes than he had ever seen before.

Having by this time acquired a strong taste for reading, andexhausted all the little book stores of his friends, the joy of theyoung mason may be imagined when Miss Pasley volunteered to lendhim some books from her own library. Of course, he eagerly andthankfully availed himself of the privilege; and thus, whileworking as an apprentice and afterwards as a journeyman, Telfordgathered his first knowledge of British literature, in which he wasaccustomed to the close of his life to take such pleasure.He almost always had some book with him, which he would snatch afew minutes to read in the intervals of his work; and on winterevenings he occupied his spare time in poring over such volumes ascame in his way, usually with no better light than the cottagefire. On one occasion Miss Pasley lent him 'Paradise Lost,' and hetook the book with him to the hill-side to read. His delight wassuch that it fairly taxed his powers of expression to describe it.He could only say; "I read, and read, and glowred; then read, andread again." He was also a great admirer of Burns, whose writingsso inflamed his mind that at the age of twenty-two, when barely outof his apprenticeship, we find the young mason actually breakingout in verse.*[1] By diligently reading all the books that he couldborrow from friends and neighbours, Telford made considerableprogress in his learning; and, what with his scribbling of "poetry"and various attempts at composition, he had become so good andlegible a writer that he was often called upon by his less-educatedacquaintances to pen letters for them to their distant friends.He was always willing to help them in this way; and, the other workingpeople of the town making use of his services in the same manner,all the little domestic and family histories of the place soonbecame familiar to him. One evening a Langholm man asked Tom towrite a letter for him to his son in England; and when the youngscribe read over what had been written to the old man's dictation,the latter, at the end of almost every sentence, exclaimed,"Capital! capital!" and at the close he said, "Well! I declare,Tom! Werricht himsel' couldna ha' written a better!"--Wright beinga well-known lawyer or "writer" in Langholm.

His apprenticeship over, Telford went on working as a journeyman atLangholm, his wages at the time being only eighteen pence a day.What was called the New Town was then in course of erection,and there are houses still pointed out in it, the walls of whichTelford helped to put together. In the town are three archeddoor-heads of a more ornamental character than the rest, of Telford'shewing; for he was already beginning to set up his pretensions as acraftsman, and took pride in pointing to the superior handiworkwhich proceeded from his chisel.

About the same time, the bridge connecting the Old with the NewTown was built across the Esk at Langholm, and upon that structurehe was also employed. Many of the stones in it were hewn by hishand, and on several of the blocks forming the land-breast histool-mark is still to be seen.

Not long after the bridge was finished, an unusually high flood orspate swept down the valley. The Esk was "roaring red frae bank tobrae," and it was generally feared that the new brig would becarried away. Robin Hotson, the master mason, was from home at thetime, and his wife, Tibby, knowing that he was bound by hiscontract to maintain the fabric for a period of seven years, was ina state of great alarm. She ran from one person to another,wringing her hands and sobbing, "Oh! we'll be ruined--we'll a' beruined!" In her distress she thought of Telford, in whom she hadgreat confidence, and called out, "Oh! where's Tammy Telfer--where's Tammy?" He was immediately sent for. It was evening, andhe was soon found at the house of Miss Pasley. When he camerunning up, Tibby exclaimed, "Oh, Tammy! they've been on the brig,and they say its shakin'! It 'll be doon!" "Never you heed them,Tibby," said Telford, clapping her on the shoulder, "there's naefear o' the brig. I like it a' the better that it shakes--it proves its weel put thegither." Tibby's fears, however, were notso easily allayed; and insisting that she heard the brig "rumlin,"she ran up--so the neighbours afterwards used to say of her--and sether back against the parapet to hold it together. At this, it issaid, "Tam bodged and leuch;" and Tibby, observing how easily hetook it, at length grew more calm. It soon became clear enoughthat the bridge was sufficiently strong; for the flood subsidedwithout doing it any harm, and it has stood the furious spates ofnearly a century uninjured.

Telford acquired considerable general experience about the sametime as a house-builder, though the structures on which he wasengaged were of a humble order, being chiefly small farm-houses onthe Duke of Buccleugh's estate, with the usual out-buildings.Perhaps the most important of the jobs on which he was employed wasthe manse of Westerkirk, where he was comparatively at home.The hamlet stands on a green hill-side, a little below the entranceto the valley of the Meggat. It consists of the kirk, the minister'smanse, the parish-school, and a few cottages, every occupant ofwhich was known to Telford. It is backed by the purple moors,up which he loved to wander in his leisure hours and read the poemsof Fergusson and Burns. The river Esk gurgles along its rocky bedin the bottom of the dale, separated from the kirkyard by a steepbank, covered with natural wood; while near at hand, behind themanse, stretch the fine woods of Wester Hall, where Telford wasoften wont to roam.

[Image] Valley of Eskdale, Westerkirk in the distance.

We can scarcely therefore wonder that, amidst such pastoralscenery, and reading such books as he did, the poetic faculty ofthe country mason should have become so decidedly developed.It was while working at Westerkirk manse that he sketched the firstdraft of his descriptive poem entitled 'Eskdale,' which was publishedin the 'Poetical Museum' in 1784.*[2] These early poetical effortswere at least useful in stimulating his self-education. For thepractice of poetical composition, while it cultivates thesentiment of beauty in thought and feeling, is probably the best ofall exercises in the art of writing correctly, grammatically,and expressively. By drawing a man out of his ordinary calling, too,it often furnishes him with a power of happy thinking which may inafter life become a source of the purest pleasure; and this, webelieve, proved to be the case with Telford, even though he ceasedin later years to pursue the special cultivation of the art.

Shortly after, when work became slack in the district, Telfordundertook to do small jobs on his own account such as the hewing ofgrave-stones and ornamental doorheads. He prided himself especiallyupon his hewing, and from the specimens of his workmanship whichare still to be seen in the churchyards of Langholm and Westerkirk,he had evidently attained considerable skill. On some of thesepieces of masonry the year is carved--1779, or 1780. One of themost ornamental is that set into the wall of Westerkirk church,being a monumental slab, with an inscription and moulding,surmounted by a coat of arms, to the memory of James Pasley of Craig.He had now learnt all that his native valley could teach him of theart of masonry; and, bent upon self-improvement and gaining alarger experience of life, as well as knowledge of his trade, hedetermined to seek employment elsewhere. He accordingly leftEskdale for the first time, in 1780, and sought work in Edinburgh,where the New Town was then in course of erection on the elevatedland, formerly green fields, extending along the north bank of the"Nor' Loch." A bridge had been thrown across the Loch in 1769,the stagnant pond or marsh in the hollow had been filled up,and Princes Street was rising as if by magic. Skilled masons werein great demand for the purpose of carrying out these and the numerousother architectural improvements which were in progress, andTelford had no difficulty in obtaining employment.

Our stone-mason remained at Edinburgh for about two years, duringwhich he had the advantage of taking part in first-rate work andmaintaining himself comfortably, while he devoted much of his sparetime to drawing, in its application to architecture. He took theopportunity of visiting and carefully studying the fine specimensof ancient work at Holyrood House and Chapel, the Castle, Heriot'sHospital, and the numerous curious illustrations of middle agedomestic architecture with which the Old Town abounds. He also madeseveral journeys to the beautiful old chapel of Rosslyn, situatedsome miles to the south of Edinburgh, making careful drawings ofthe more important parts of that building.

When he had thus improved himself, "and studied all that was to beseen in Edinburgh, in returning to the western border," he says,"I visited the justly celebrated Abbey of Melrose." There he wascharmed by the delicate and perfect workmanship still visible evenin the ruins of that fine old Abbey; and with his folio filled withsketches and drawings, he made his way back to Eskdale and thehumble cottage at The Crooks. But not to remain there long.He merely wished to pay a parting visit to his mother and otherrelatives before starting upon a longer journey. "Having acquired,"he says in his Autobiography, "the rudiments of my profession,I considered that my native country afforded few opportunities ofexercising it to any extent, and therefore judged it advisable(like many of my countrymen) to proceed southward, where industrymight find more employment and be better remunerated."

Before setting out, he called upon all his old friends andacquaintances in the dale--the neighbouring farmers, who hadbefriended him and his mother when struggling with poverty--hisschoolfellows, many of whom were preparing to migrate, likehimself, from their native valley--and the many friends andacquaintances he had made while working as a mason in Langholm.Everybody knew that Tom was going south, and all wished him Godspeed. At length the leave-taking was over, and he set out forLondon in the year 1782, when twenty-five years old. He had, likethe little river Meggat, on the banks of which he was born, floatedgradually on towards the outer world: first from the nook in thevalley, to Westerkirk school; then to Langholm and its littlecircle; and now, like the Meggat, which flows with the Esk into theocean, he was about to be borne away into the wide world. Telford,however, had confidence in himself, and no one had fears for him.As the neighbours said, wisely wagging their heads, "Ah, he's anauld-farran chap is Tam; he'll either mak a spoon or spoil a horn;any how, he's gatten a good trade at his fingers' ends."

Telford had made all his previous journeys on foot; but this one hemade on horseback. It happened that Sir James Johnstone, the lairdof Wester Hall, had occasion to send a horse from Eskdale to amember of his family in London, and he had some difficulty infinding a person to take charge of it. It occurred to Mr. Jackson,the laird's factor, that this was a capital opportunity for hiscousin Tom, the mason; and it was accordingly arranged that heshould ride the horse to town. When a boy, he had learnt roughriding sufficiently well for the purpose; and the better to fit himfor the hardships of the road, Mr. Jackson lent him his buckskinbreeches. Thus Tom set out from his native valley well mounted,with his little bundle of "traps" buckled behind him, and, after aprosperous journey, duly reached London, and delivered up the horseas he had been directed. Long after, Mr. Jackson used to tell thestory of his cousin's first ride to London with great glee, and healways took care to wind up with--"but Tam forgot to send me backmy breeks!"

[Image] Lower Valley of the Meggat, the Crooks in the distance.

Footnotes for Chapter II.

*[1] In his 'Epistle to Mr. Walter Ruddiman,' first published in'Ruddiman's Weekly Magazine,' in 1779, occur the following linesaddressed to Burns, in which Telford incidentally sketches himselfat the time, and hints at his own subsequent meritorious career;

"Nor pass the tentie curious lad, Who o'er the ingle hangs his head, And begs of neighbours books to read; For hence arise Thy country's sons, who far are spread, Baith bold and wise."

*[2] The 'Poetical Museum,' Hawick, p.267. ' Eskdale' wasafterwards reprinted by Telford when living at Shrewsbury, when headded a few lines by way of conclusion. The poem describes verypleasantly the fine pastoral scenery of the district:--

"Deep 'mid the green sequester'd glens below, Where murmuring streams among the alders flow, Where flowery meadows down their margins spread, And the brown hamlet lifts its humble head-- There, round his little fields, the peasant strays, And sees his flock along the mountain graze; And, while the gale breathes o'er his ripening grain, And soft repeats his upland shepherd's strain, And western suns with mellow radiance play. And gild his straw-roof'd cottage with their ray, Feels Nature's love his throbbing heart employ, Nor envies towns their artificial joy."

The features of the valley are very fairly described. Its earlyhistory is then rapidly sketched; next its period of border strife,at length happily allayed by the union of the kingdoms, under whichthe Johnstones, Pasleys, and others, men of Eskdale, achieve honourand fame. Nor did he forget to mention Armstrong, the author of the'Art of Preserving Health,' son of the minister of Castleton, a fewmiles east of Westerkirk; and Mickle, the translator of the 'Lusiad,'whose father was minister of the parish of Langholm; both of whomTelford took a natural pride in as native poets of Eskdale.

CHAPTER III.

TELFORD A WORKING MASON IN LONDON, AND FOREMAN OF MASONS AT PORTSMOUTH.

A common working man, whose sole property consisted in his malletand chisels, his leathern apron and his industry, might not seem toamount to much in "the great world of London." But, as Telfordafterwards used to say, very much depends on whether the man hasgot a head with brains in it of the right sort upon his shoulders.In London, the weak man is simply a unit added to the vast floatingcrowd, and may be driven hither and thither, if he do not sinkaltogether; while the strong man will strike out, keep his headabove water, and make a course for himself, as Telford did.There is indeed a wonderful impartiality about London. There thecapable person usually finds his place. When work of importance isrequired, nobody cares to ask where the man who can do it bestcomes from, or what he has been, but what he is, and what he cando. Nor did it ever stand in Telford's way that his father had beena poor shepherd in Eskdale, and that he himself had begun hisLondon career by working for weekly wages with a mallet and chisel.

After duly delivering up the horse, Telford proceeded to present aletter with which he had been charged by his friend Miss Pasley onleaving Langholm. It was addressed to her brother, Mr. John Pasley,an eminent London merchant, brother also of Sir Thomas Pasley, anduncle of the Malcolms. Miss Pasley requested his influence onbehalf of the young mason from Eskdale, the bearer of the letter.Mr. Pasley received his countryman kindly, and furnished him withletters of introduction to Sir William Chambers, the architect ofSomerset House, then in course of erection. It was the finestarchitectural work in progress in the metropolis, and Telford,desirous of improving himself by experience of the best kind,wished to be employed upon it. He did not, indeed, need anyinfluence to obtain work there, for good hewers were in demand; butour mason thought it well to make sure, and accordingly providedhimself beforehand with the letter of introduction to the architect.He was employed immediately, and set to work among the hewers,receiving the usual wages for his labour.

Mr. Pasley also furnished him with a letter to Mr. Robert Adam,*[1]another distinguished architect of the time; and Telford seems tohave been much gratified by the civility which he receives fromhim. Sir William Chambers he found haughty and reserved, probablybeing too much occupied to bestow attention on the Somerset Househewer, while he found Adam to be affable and communicative."Although I derived no direct advantage from either," Telford says,"yet so powerful is manner, that the latter left the mostfavourable impression; while the interviews with both convinced methat my safest plan was to endeavour to advance, if by slower steps,yet by independent conduct."

There was a good deal of fine hewer's work about Somerset House,and from the first Telford aimed at taking the highest place as anartist and tradesman in that line.*[2] Diligence, carefulness,and observation will always carry a man onward and upward; and beforelong we find that Telford had succeeded in advancing himself to therank of a first-class mason. Judging from his letters written aboutthis time to his friends in Eskdale, he seems to have been verycheerful and happy; and his greatest pleasure was in calling uprecollections of his native valley. He was full of kind remembrancesfor everybody. "How is Andrew, and Sandy, and Aleck, and Davie?"he would say; and "remember me to all the folk of the nook."He seems to have made a round of the persons from Eskdale in or aboutLondon before he wrote, as his letters were full of messages fromthem to their friends at home; for in those days postage was dear,and as much as possible was necessarily packed within the compassof a working man's letter. In one, written after more than ayear's absence, he said he envied the visit which a young surgeonof his acquaintance was about to pay to the valley; "for themeeting of long absent friends," he added, "is a pleasure to beequalled by few other enjoyments here below."

He had now been more than a year in London, during which he hadacquired much practical information both in the useful andornamental branches of architecture. Was he to go on as a workingmason? or what was to be his next move? He had been quietly makinghis observations upon his companions, and had come to theconclusion that they very much wanted spirit, and, more than all,forethought. He found very clever workmen about him with no ideawhatever beyond their week's wages. For these they would make everyeffort: they would work hard, exert themselves to keep theirearnings up to the highest point, and very readily "strike" tosecure an advance; but as for making a provision for the next week,or the next year, he thought them exceedingly thoughtless. On theMonday mornings they began "clean;" and on Saturdays their week'searnings were spent. Thus they lived from one week to another--their limited notion of "the week" seeming to bound their existence.

Telford, on the other hand, looked upon the week as only one of thestoreys of a building; and upon the succession of weeks, running onthrough years, he thought that the complete life structure shouldbe built up. He thus describes one of the best of his fellow-workmenat that time--the only individual he had formed an intimacy with:"He has been six years at Somerset House, and is esteemed thefinest workman in London, and consequently in England. He worksequally in stone and marble. He has excelled the professed carversin cutting Corinthian capitals and other ornaments about thisedifice, many of which will stand as a monument to his honour.He understands drawing thoroughly, and the master he works underlooks on him as the principal support of his business. This man,whose name is Mr. Hatton, may be half a dozen years older thanmyself at most. He is honesty and good nature itself, and isadored by both his master and fellow-workmen. Notwithstanding hisextraordinary skill and abilities, he has been working all thistime as a common journeyman, contented with a few shillings a weekmore than the rest; but I believe your uneasy friend has kindled aspark in his breast that he never felt before." *[3]

In fact, Telford had formed the intention of inducing thisadmirable fellow to join him in commencing business as builders ontheir own account. "There is nothing done in stone or marble," hesays, "that we cannot do in the completest manner." Mr. Robert Adam,to whom the scheme was mentioned, promised his support, and said hewould do all in his power to recommend them. But the greatdifficulty was money, which neither of them possessed; and Telford,with grief, admitting that this was an "insuperable bar," went nofurther with the scheme.

About this time Telford was consulted by Mr. Pulteney*[4]respecting the alterations making in the mansion at Wester Hall,and was often with him on this business. We find him also writingdown to Langholm for the prices of roofing, masonry, and timber-work,with a view to preparing estimates for a friend who was building ahouse in that neighbourhood. Although determined to reach thehighest excellence as a manual worker, it is clear that he wasalready aspiring to be something more. Indeed, his steadiness,perseverance, and general ability, pointed him out as one wellworthy of promotion.

How he achieved his next step we are not informed; but we find him,in July, 1784, engaged in superintending the erection of a house,after a design by Mr. Samuel Wyatt, intended for the residence ofthe Commissioner (now occupied by the Port Admiral) at PortsmouthDockyard, together with a new chapel, and several buildingsconnected with the Yard. Telford took care to keep his eyes open toall the other works going forward in the neighbourhood, and hestates that he had frequent opportunities of observing the variousoperations necessary in the foundation and construction ofgraving-docks, wharf-walls, and such like, which were among theprincipal occupations of his after-life.

The letters written by him from Portsmouth to his Eskdalecorrespondents about this time were cheerful and hopeful, likethose he had sent from London. His principal grievance was that hereceived so few from home, but he supposed that opportunities forforwarding them by hand had not occurred, postage being so dear asscarcely then to be thought of. To tempt them to correspondence hesent copies of the poems which he still continued to compose in theleisure of his evenings: one of these was a 'Poem on Portsdown Hill.'As for himself, he was doing very well. The buildings wereadvancing satisfactorily; but, "above all," said he, "my proceedingsare entirely approved by the Commissioners and officers here--so much so that they would sooner go by my advice than my master's,which is a dangerous point, being difficult to keep their goodgraces as well as his. However, I will contrive to manage it"*[5]

The following is his own account of the manner in which he wasusually occupied during the winter months while at Portsmouth Dock:--"I rise in the morning at 7 (February 1st), and will get upearlier as the days lengthen until it come to 5 o'clock.I immediately set to work to make out accounts, write on matters ofbusiness, or draw, until breakfast, which is at 9. Then I go intothe Yard about 10, see that all are at their posts, and am ready toadvise about any matters that may require attention. This, andgoing round the several works, occupies until about dinner-time,which is at 2; and after that I again go round and attend to whatmay be wanted. I draw till 5; then tea; and after that I write,draw, or read until half after 9; then comes supper and bed. Thismy ordinary round, unless when I dine or spend an evening with afriend; but I do not make many friends, being very particular, nay,nice to a degree. My business requires a great deal of writing anddrawing, and this work I always take care to keep under byreserving my time for it, and being in advance of my work ratherthan behind it. Then, as knowledge is my most ardent pursuit, athousand things occur which call for investigation which wouldpass unnoticed by those who are content to trudge only in thebeaten path. I am not contented unless I can give a reason forevery particular method or practice which is pursued. Hence I amnow very deep in chemistry. The mode of making mortar in the bestway led me to inquire into the nature of lime. Having, in pursuitof this inquiry, looked into some books on chemistry, I perceivedthe field was boundless; but that to assign satisfactory reasonsfor many mechanical processes required a general knowledge of thatscience. I have therefore borrowed a MS. copy of Dr. Black'sLectures. I have bought his 'Experiments on Magnesia andQuicklime,' and also Fourcroy's Lectures, translated from theFrench by one Mr. Elliot, of Edinburgh. And I am determined tostudy the subject with unwearied attention until I attain someaccurate knowledge of chemistry, which is of no less use in thepractice of the arts than it is in that of medicine." He adds, thathe continues to receive the cordial approval of the Commissionersfor the manner in which he performs his duties, and says, "I takecare to be so far master of the business committed to me as thatnone shall be able to eclipse me in that respect."*[6] At the sametime he states he is taking great delight in Freemasonry, and isabout to have a lodge-room at the George Inn fitted up after hisplans and under his direction. Nor does he forget to add that hehas his hair powdered every day, and puts on a clean shirt threetimes a week.

The Eskdale mason was evidently getting on, as he deserved to do.But he was not puffed up. To his Langholm friend he averred that"he would rather have it said of him that he possessed one grain ofgood nature or good sense than shine the finest puppet inChristendom." "Let my mother know that I am well," he wrote toAndrew Little, "and that I will print her a letter soon."*[7]For it was a practice of this good son, down to the period of hismother's death, no matter how much burdened he was with business,to set apart occasional times for the careful penning of a letterin printed characters, that she might the more easily be able todecipher it with her old and dimmed eyes by her cottage fireside atThe Crooks. As a man's real disposition usually displays itselfmost strikingly in small matters--like light, which gleams themost brightly when seen through narrow chinks--it will probablybe admitted that this trait, trifling though it may appear, wastruly characteristic of the simple and affectionate nature of thehero of our story.

The buildings at Portsmouth were finished by the end of 1786, whenTelford's duties there being at an end, and having no engagementbeyond the termination of the contract, he prepared to leave, andbegan to look about him for other employment.

Footnotes for Chapter III.

*[1] Robert and John Adam were architects of considerable repute intheir day. Among their London erections were the Adelphi Buildings,in the Strand; Lansdowne House, in Berkeley Square; Caen WoodHouse, near Hampstead (Lord Mansfield's); Portland Place, Regent'sPark; and numerous West End streets and mansions. The screen of theAdmiralty and the ornaments of Draper's Hall were also designed bythem.

*[2] Long after Telford had become famous, he was passing overWaterloo Bridge one day with a friend, when, pointing to somefinely-cut stones in the corner nearest the bridge, he said:"You see those stones there; forty years since I hewed and laid them,when working on that building as a common mason."

*[3]Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated London, July, 1783.

*[4] Mr., afterwards Sir William, Pulteney, was the second son ofSir James Johnstone, of Wester Hall, and assumed the name ofPulteney, on his marriage to Miss Pulteney, niece of the Earl ofBath and of General Pulteney, by whom he succeeded to a largefortune. He afterwards succeeded to the baronetcy of his elderbrother James, who died without issue in 1797. Sir William Pulteneyrepresented Cromarty, and afterwards Shrewsbury, where he usuallyresided, in seven successive Parliaments. He was a great patron ofTelford's, as we shall afterwards find.

Mr. Pulteney, member for Shrewsbury, was the owner of extensiveestates in that neighbourhood by virtue of his marriage with theniece of the last Earl of Bath. Having resolved to fit up theCastle there as a residence, he bethought him of the young Eskdalemason, who had, some years before, advised him as to the repairs ofthe Johnstone mansion at Wester Hall. Telford was soon found, andengaged to go down to Shrewsbury to superintend the necessaryalterations. Their execution occupied his attention for some time,and during their progress he was so fortunate as to obtain theappointment of Surveyor of Public Works for the county of Salop,most probably through the influence of his patron. Indeed, Telfordwas known to be so great a favourite with Mr. Pulteney that atShrewsbury he usually went by the name of "Young Pulteney."

Much of his attention was from this time occupied with the surveysand repairs of roads, bridges, and gaols, and the supervision ofall public buildings under the control of the magistrates of thecounty. He was also frequently called upon by the corporation ofthe borough of Shrewsbury to furnish plans for the improvement ofthe streets and buildings of that fine old town; and manyalterations were carried out under his direction during the periodof his residence there.

While the Castle repairs were in course of execution, Telford wascalled upon by the justices to superintend the erection of a newgaol, the plans for which had already been prepared and settled.The benevolent Howard, who devoted himself with such zeal to gaolimprovement, on hearing of the intentions of the magistrates, madea visit to Shrewsbury for the purpose of examining the plans; andthe circumstance is thus adverted to by Telford in one of hisletters to his Eskdale correspondent:--"About ten days ago I had avisit from the celebrated John Howard, Esq. I say I, for he was onhis tour of gaols and infirmaries; and those of Shrewsbury beingboth under my direction, this was, of course, the cause of my beingthus distinguished. I accompanied him through the infirmary and thegaol. I showed him the plans of the proposed new buildings, and hadmuch conversation with him on both subjects. In consequence of hissuggestions as to the former, I have revised and amended the plans,so as to carry out a thorough reformation; and my alterationshaving been approved by a general board, they have been referred toa committee to carry out. Mr. Howard also took objection to theplan of the proposed gaol, and requested me to inform themagistrates that, in his opinion, the interior courts were toosmall, and not sufficiently ventilated; and the magistrates, havingapproved his suggestions, ordered the plans to be amendedaccordingly. You may easily conceive how I enjoyed the conversationof this truly good man, and how much I would strive to possess hisgood opinion. I regard him as the guardian angel of the miserable.He travels into all parts of Europe with the sole object of doinggood, merely for its own sake, and not for the sake of men's praise.To give an instance of his delicacy, and his desire to avoid publicnotice, I may mention that, being a Presbyterian, he attended themeeting-house of that denomination in Shrewsbury on Sunday morning,on which occasion I accompanied him; but in the afternoon heexpressed a wish to attend another place of worship, his presencein the town having excited considerable curiosity, though his wishwas to avoid public recognition. Nay, more, he assures me that hehates travelling, and was born to be a domestic man. He never seeshis country-house but he says within himself, 'Oh! might I but resthere, and never more travel three miles from home; then should I behappy indeed!' But he has become so committed, and so pledgedhimself to his own conscience to carry out his great work, that hesays he is doubtful whether he will ever be able to attain thedesire of his heart--life at home. He never dines out, and scarcelytakes time to dine at all: he says he is growing old, and has notime to lose. His manner is simplicity itself. Indeed, I havenever yet met so noble a being. He is going abroad again shortlyon one of his long tours of mercy."*[1] The journey to whichTelford here refers was Howard's last. In the following year heleft England to return no more; and the great and good man died atCherson, on the shores of the Black Sea, less than two years afterhis interview with the young engineer at Shrewsbury.

Telford writes to his Langholm friend at the same time that he isworking very hard, and studying to improve himself in branches ofknowledge in which he feels himself deficient. He is practisingvery temperate habits: for half a year past he has taken todrinking water only, avoiding all sweets, and eating no"nick-nacks." He has "sowens and milk,' (oatmeal flummery) everynight for his supper. His friend having asked his opinion ofpolitics, he says he really knows nothing about them; he had beenso completely engrossed by his own business that he has not hadtime to read even a newspaper. But, though an ignoramus inpolitics, he has been studying lime, which is more to his purpose.If his friend can give him any information about that, he willpromise to read a newspaper now and then in the ensuing session ofParliament, for the purpose of forming some opinion of politics:he adds, however, "not if it interfere with my business--mind that!',His friend told him that he proposed translating a system ofchemistry. "Now you know," wrote Telford, "that I am chemistry mad;and if I were near you, I would make you promise to communicate anyinformation on the subject that you thought would be of service toyour friend, especially about calcareous matters and the mode offorming the best composition for building with, as well above asbelow water. But not to be confined to that alone, for you mustknow I have a book for the pocket,*[2] which I always carry with me,into which I have extracted the essence of Fourcroy's Lectures,Black on Quicklime, Scheele's Essays, Watson's Essays, and variouspoints from the letters of my respected friend Dr. Irving.*[3]So much for chemistry. But I have also crammed into it factsrelating to mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, and all manner ofstuff, to which I keep continually adding, and it will be a charityto me if you will kindly contribute your mite."*[4] He says ithas been, and will continue to be, his aim to endeavour to unitethose "two frequently jarring pursuits, literature and business;"and he does not see why a man should be less efficient in thelatter capacity because he has well informed, stored, and humanizedhis mind by the cultivation of letters. There was both good senseand sound practical wisdom in this view of Telford.

While the gaol was in course of erection, after the improved planssuggested by Howard, a variety of important matters occupied thecounty surveyor's attention. During the summer of 1788 he says heis very much occupied, having about ten different jobs on hand:roads, bridges, streets, drainage-works, gaol, and infirmary.Yet he had time to write verses, copies of which he forwarded to hisEskdale correspondent, inviting his criticism. Several of thesewere elegiac lines, somewhat exaggerated in their praises of thedeceased, though doubtless sincere. One poem was in memory ofGeorge Johnstone, Esq., a member of the Wester Hall family, andanother on the death of William Telford, an Eskdale farmer's son,an intimate friend and schoolfellow of our engineer.*[5] These,however, were but the votive offerings of private friendship,persons more immediately about him knowing nothing of his stolenpleasures in versemaking. He continued to be shy of strangers,and was very "nice," as he calls it, as to those whom he admittedto his bosom.

Two circumstances of considerable interest occurred in the courseof the same year (1788), which are worthy of passing notice.The one was the fall of the church of St. Chad's, at Shrewsbury;the other was the discovery of the ruins of the Roman city ofUriconium, in the immediate neighbourhood. The church of St. Chad'swas about four centuries old, and stood greatly in need of repairs.The roof let in the rain upon the congregation, and the parishvestry met to settle the plans for mending it; but they could notagree about the mode of procedure. In this emergency Telford wassent for, and requested to advise what was best to he done. After arapid glance at the interior, which was in an exceedingly dangerousstate, he said to the churchwardens, "Gentlemen, we'll consulttogether on the outside, if you please." He found that not only theroof but the walls of the church were in a most decayed state.It appeared that, in consequence of graves having been dug in theloose soil close to the shallow foundation of the north-west pillarof the tower, it had sunk so as to endanger the whole structure."I discovered," says he, "that there were large fractures in thewalls, on tracing which I found that the old building was in a mostshattered and decrepit condition, though until then it had beenscarcely noticed. Upon this I declined giving any recommendation asto the repairs of the roof unless they would come to the resolutionto secure the more essential parts, as the fabric appeared to meto be in a very alarming condition. I sent in a written report tothe same effect." *[6]

The parish vestry again met, and the report was read; but themeeting exclaimed against so extensive a proposal, imputing meremotives of self-interest to the surveyor. "Popular clamour," saysTelford, "overcame my report. 'These fractures,' exclaimed thevestrymen, 'have been there from time immemorial;' and there weresome otherwise sensible persons, who remarked that professional menalways wanted to carve out employment for themselves, and that thewhole of the necessary repairs could be done at a comparativelysmall expense."*[7] The vestry then called in another person,a mason of the town, and directed him to cut away the injured partof a particular pillar, in order to underbuild it. On the secondevening after the commencement of the operations, the sexton wasalarmed by a fail of lime-dust and mortar when he attempted to tollthe great bell, on which he immediately desisted and left thechurch. Early next morning (on the 9th of July), while the workmenwere waiting at the church door for the key, the bell struck four,and the vibration at once brought down the tower, which overwhelmedthe nave, demolishing all the pillars along the north side, andshattering the rest. "The very parts I had pointed out," saysTelford, "were those which gave way, and down tumbled the tower,forming a very remarkable ruin, which astonished and surprised thevestry, and roused them from their infatuation, though they havenot yet recovered from the shock."*[8]

The other circumstance to which we have above referred was thediscovery of the Roman city of Uriconium, near Wroxeter, about fivemiles from Shrewsbury, in the year 1788. The situation of the placeis extremely beautiful, the river Severn flowing along its westernmargin, and forming a barrier against what were once the hostiledistricts of West Britain. For many centuries the dead city hadslept under the irregular mounds of earth which covered it, likethose of Mossul and Nineveh. Farmers raised heavy crops of turnipsand grain from the surface and they scarcely ever ploughed orharrowed the ground without turning up Roman coins or pieces ofpottery. They also observed that in certain places the corn wasmore apt to be scorched in dry weather than in others--a sure signto them that there were ruins underneath; and their practice, whenthey wished to find stones for building, was to set a mark upon thescorched places when the corn was on the ground, and after harvestto dig down, sure of finding the store of stones which they wantedfor walls, cottages, or farm-houses. In fact, the place came to beregarded in the light of a quarry, rich in ready-worked materialsfor building purposes. A quantity of stone being wanted for thepurpose of erecting a blacksmith's shop, on digging down upon oneof the marked places, the labourers came upon some ancient works ofa more perfect appearance than usual. Curiosity was excited--antiquarians made their way to the spot--and lo! they pronouncedthe ruins to be neither more nor less than a Roman bath, in aremarkably perfect state of preservation. Mr. Telford was requestedto apply to Mr. Pulteney, the lord of the manor, to prevent thedestruction of these interesting remains, and also to permit theexcavations to proceed, with a view to the buildings beingcompletely explored. This was readily granted, and Mr. Pulteneyauthorised Telford himself to conduct the necessary excavations athis expense. This he promptly proceeded to do, and the result was,that an extensive hypocaust apartment was brought to light, withbaths, sudatorium, dressing-room, and a number of tile pillars--all forming parts of a Roman floor--sufficiently perfect to showthe manner in which the building had been constructed and used.*[9]Among Telford's less agreeable duties about the same time was thatof keeping the felons at work. He had to devise the ways and meansof employing them without risk of their escaping, which gave himmuch trouble and anxiety. "Really," he said, "my felons are a verytroublesome family. I have had a great deal of plague from them,and I have not yet got things quite in the train that I could wish.I have had a dress made for them of white and brown cloth, in sucha way that they are pye-bald. They have each a light chain aboutone leg. Their allowance in food is a penny loaf and a halfpennyworth of cheese for breakfast; a penny loaf, a quart of soup, andhalf a pound of meat for dinner; and a penny loaf and a halfpennyworth of cheese for supper; so that they have meat and clothes atall events. I employ them in removing earth, serving masons orbricklayers, or in any common labouring work on which they can beemployed; during which time, of course, I have them strictlywatched."

Much more pleasant was his first sight of Mrs. Jordan at theShrewsbury theatre, where he seems to have been worked up to apitch of rapturous enjoyment. She played for six nights there atthe race time, during which there were various other'entertainments. On the second day there was what was called anInfirmary Meeting, or an assemblage of the principal countygentlemen in the infirmary, at which, as county surveyor, Telfordwas present. They proceeded thence to church to hear a sermonpreached for the occasion; after which there was a dinner, followedby a concert. He attended all. The sermon was preached in the newpulpit, which had just been finished after his design, in theGothic style; and he confidentially informed his Langholmcorrespondent that he believed the pulpit secured greateradmiration than the sermon, With the concert he was completelydisappointed, and he then became convinced that he had no ear formusic. Other people seemed very much pleased; but for the life ofhim he could make nothing of it. The only difference that herecognised between one tune and another was that there was adifference in the noise. "It was all very fine," he said, "I haveno doubt; but I would not give a song of Jock Stewart *[10] for thewhole of them. The melody of sound is thrown away upon me. Onelook, one word of Mrs. Jordan, has more effect upon me than all thefiddlers in England. Yet I sat down and tried to be as attentive asany mortal could be. I endeavoured, if possible, to get up aninterest in what was going on; but it was all of no use. I felt noemotion whatever, excepting only a strong inclination to go tosleep. It must be a defect; but it is a fact, and I cannot help it.I suppose my ignorance of the subject, and the want of musicalexperience in my youth, may be the cause of it."*[11] Telford'smother was still living in her old cottage at The Crooks. Since hehad parted from her, he had written many printed letters to keepher informed of his progress; and he never wrote to any of hisfriends in the dale without including some message or other to hismother. Like a good and dutiful son, he had taken care out of hismeans to provide for her comfort in her declining years. "She hasbeen a good mother to me," he said, "and I will try and be a goodson to her." In a letter written from Shrewsbury about this time,enclosing a ten pound note, seven pounds of which were to be givento his mother, he said, "I have from time to time written WilliamJackson [his cousin] and told him to furnish her with whatever shewants to make her comfortable; but there may be many little thingsshe may wish to have, and yet not like to ask him for. You willtherefore agree with me that it is right she should have a littlecash to dispose of in her own way.... I am not rich yet; but itwill ease my mind to set my mother above the fear of want. That hasalways been my first object; and next to that, to be the somebodywhich you have always encouraged me to believe I might aspire tobecome. Perhaps after all there may be something in it!" *[12]He now seems to have occupied much of his leisure hours inmiscellaneous reading. Among the numerous books which he read, heexpressed the highest admiration for Sheridan's 'Life of Swift.'But his Langholm friend, who was a great politician, having invitedhis attention to politics, Telford's reading gradually extended inthat direction. Indeed the exciting events of the FrenchRevolution then tended to make all men more or less politicians.The capture of the Bastille by the people of Paris in 1789 passedlike an electric thrill through Europe. Then followed theDeclaration of Rights; after which, in the course of six months,all the institutions which had before existed in France were sweptaway, and the reign of justice was fairly inaugurated upon earth!

In the spring of 1791 the first part of Paine's 'Rights of Man'appeared, and Telford, like many others, read it, and was at oncecarried away by it. Only a short time before, he had admitted withtruth that he knew nothing of politics; but no sooner had he readPaine than he felt completely enlightened. He now suddenlydiscovered how much reason he and everybody else in England had forbeing miserable. While residing at Portsmouth, he had quoted to hisLangholm friend the lines from Cowper's 'Task,' then justpublished, beginning "Slaves cannot breathe in England;" but lo!Mr. Paine had filled his imagination with the idea that England wasnothing but a nation of bondmen and aristocrats. To his naturalmind, the kingdom had appeared to be one in which a man had prettyfair play, could think and speak, and do the thing he would,--tolerably happy, tolerably prosperous, and enjoying many blessings.He himself had felt free to labour, to prosper, and to rise frommanual to head work. No one had hindered him; his personal libertyhad never been interfered with; and he had freely employed hisearnings as he thought proper. But now the whole thing appeared adelusion. Those rosy-cheeked old country gentlemen who came ridinginto Shrewsbury to quarter sessions, and were so fond of theiryoung Scotch surveyor occupying themselves in building bridges,maintaining infirmaries, making roads, and regulating gaols--those county magistrates and members of parliament, aristocrats all,were the very men who, according to Paine, were carrying thecountry headlong to ruin!

If Telford could not offer an opinion on politics before, becausehe "knew nothing about them," he had now no such difficulty. Hadhis advice been asked about the foundations of a bridge, or thesecurity of an arch, he would have read and studied much beforegiving it; he would have carefully inquired into the chemicalqualities of different kinds of lime--into the mechanicalprinciples of weight and resistance, and such like; but he had nosuch hesitation in giving an opinion about the foundations of aconstitution of more than a thousand years' growth. Here, likeother young politicians, with Paine's book before him, he feltcompetent to pronounce a decisive judgment at once. "I amconvinced," said he, writing to his Langholm friend, "that thesituation of Great Britain is such, that nothing short of somesignal revolution can prevent her from sinking into bankruptcy,slavery, and insignificancy." He held that the national expenditurewas so enormous,*[13] arising from the corrupt administration ofthe country, that it was impossible the "bloated mass" could holdtogether any longer; and as he could not expect that "a hundredPulteneys," such as his employer, could be found to restore it tohealth, the conclusion he arrived at was that ruin was"inevitable."*[14] Notwithstanding the theoretical ruin of Englandwhich pressed so heavy on his mind at this time, we find Telfordstrongly recommending his correspondent to send any good wrights hecould find in his neighbourhood to Bath, where they would beenabled to earn twenty shillings or a guinea a week at piece-work--the wages paid at Langholm for similar work being only about halfthose amounts.

In the same letter in which these observations occur, Telfordalluded to the disgraceful riots at Birmingham, in the course ofwhich Dr. Priestley's house and library were destroyed. As theoutrages were the work of the mob, Telford could not charge thearistocracy with them; but with equal injustice he laid the blameat the door of "the clergy," who had still less to do with them,winding up with the prayer, "May the Lord mend their hearts andlessen their incomes!"

Fortunately for Telford, his intercourse with the townspeople ofShrewsbury was so small that his views on these subjects were neverknown; and we very shortly find him employed by the clergythemselves in building for them a new church in the town ofBridgenorth. His patron and employer, Mr. Pulteney, however, knewof his extreme views, and the knowledge came to him quiteaccidentally. He found that Telford had made use of his frank tosend through the post a copy of Paine's 'Rights of Man' to hisLangholm correspondent,*[15] where the pamphlet excited as muchfury in the minds of some of the people of that town as it had donein that of Telford himself. The "Langholm patriots "broke out intodrinking revolutionary toasts at the Cross, and so disturbed thepeace of the little town that some of them were confined for sixweeks in the county gaol.

Mr. Pulteney was very indignant at the liberty Telford had takenwith his frank, and a rupture between them seemed likely to ensue;but the former was forgiving, and the matter went no further. It isonly right to add, that as Telford grew older and wiser, he becamemore careful in jumping at conclusions on political topics.The events which shortly occurred in France tended in a great measureto heal his mental distresses as to the future of England. When the"liberty" won by the Parisians ran into riot, and the "Friends of Man"occupied themselves in taking off the heads of those who differedfrom them, he became wonderfully reconciled to the enjoyment of thesubstantial freedom which, after all, was secured to him by theEnglish Constitution. At the same time, he was so much occupied incarrying out his important works, that he found but little time todevote either to political speculation or to versemaking.

While living at Shrewsbury, he had his poem of 'Eskdale' reprintedfor private circulation. We have also seen several MS. verses byhim, written about the same period, which do not appear ever tohave been printed. One of these--the best--is entitled 'Verses tothe Memory of James Thomson, author of "Liberty, a poem;"' anotheris a translation from Buchanan, 'On the Spheres;' and a third,written in April, 1792, is entitled 'To Robin Burns, being apostscript to some verses addressed to him on the establishment ofan Agricultural Chair in Edinburgh.' It would unnecessarily occupyour space to print these effusions; and, to tell the truth, theyexhibit few if any indications of poetic power. No amount ofperseverance will make a poet of a man in whom the divine gift isnot born. The true line of Telford's genius lay in building andengineering, in which direction we now propose to follow him.

*[2] This practice of noting down information, the result ofreading and observation, was continued by Mr. Telford until theclose of his life; his last pocket memorandum book, containing alarge amount of valuable information on mechanical subjects--a sortof engineer's vade mecum--being printed in the appendix to the 4to.'Life of Telford' published by his executors in 1838, pp. 663-90.

*[3] A medical man, a native of Eskdale, of great promise, who diedcomparatively young.

*[4] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm.

*[5] It would occupy unnecessary space to cite these poems.The following, from the verses in memory of William Telford, relatesto schoolboy days, After alluding to the lofty Fell Hills, whichformed part of the sheep farm of his deceased friend's father, thepoet goes on to say:

"There 'mongst those rocks I'll form a rural seat, And plant some ivy with its moss compleat; I'll benches form of fragments from the stone, Which, nicely pois'd, was by our hands o'erthrown,-- A simple frolic, but now dear to me, Because, my Telford, 'twas performed with thee. There, in the centre, sacred to his name, I'll place an altar, where the lambent flame Shall yearly rise, and every youth shall join The willing voice, and sing the enraptured line. But we, my friend, will often steal away To this lone seat, and quiet pass the day; Here oft recall the pleasing scenes we knew In early youth, when every scene was new, When rural happiness our moments blest, And joys untainted rose in every breast."

*[6] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 16th July, 1788.

*[7] Ibid.

*[8] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 16th July, 1788.

*[9] The discovery formed the subject of a paper read before theSociety of Antiquaries in London on the 7th of May, 1789, publishedin the 'Archaeologia,' together with a drawing of the remainssupplied by Mr. Telford.

*[10] An Eskdale crony. His son, Colonel Josias Stewart, rose toeminence in the East India Company's service, having been for manyyears Resident at Gwalior and Indore.

*[13] It was then under seventeen millions sterling, or about afourth of what it is now.

*[14] Letter to Mr. Andrew Little, Langholm, dated 28th July, 1791.

*[15] The writer of a memoir of Telford, in the 'EncyclopediaBritannica,' says:--"Andrew Little kept a private and very smallschool at Langholm. Telford did not neglect to send him a copy ofPaine's 'Rights of Man;' and as he was totally blind, he employedone of his scholars to read it in the evenings. Mr. Little hadreceived an academical education before he lost his sight; and,aided by a memory of uncommon powers, he taught the classics, andparticularly Greek, with much higher reputation than any otherschoolmaster within a pretty extensive circuit. Two of his pupilsread all the Iliad, and all or the greater part of Sophocles.After hearing a long sentence of Greek or Latin distinctly recited,he could generally construe and translate it with little or nohesitation. He was always much gratified by Telford's visits,which were not infrequent, to his native district."

CHAPTER V.

TELFORD'S FIRST EMPLOYMENT AS AN ENGINEER.

As surveyor for the county, Telford was frequently called upon bythe magistrates to advise them as to the improvement of roads andthe building or repair of bridges. His early experience ofbridge-building in his native district now proved of much serviceto him, and he used often to congratulate himself, even when he hadreached the highest rank in his profession, upon the circumstanceswhich had compelled him to begin his career by working with his ownhands. To be a thorough judge of work, he held that a man musthimself have been practically engaged in it.

"Not only," he said, "are the natural senses of seeing and feelingrequisite in the examination of materials, but also the practisedeye, and the hand which has had experience of the kind andqualities of stone, of lime, of iron, of timber, and even of earth,and of the effects of human ingenuity in applying and combining allthese substances, are necessary for arriving at mastery in theprofession; for, how can a man give judicious directions unless hepossesses personal knowledge of the details requisite to effecthis ultimate purpose in the best and cheapest manner? It hashappened to me more than once, when taking opportunities of beinguseful to a young man of merit, that I have experienced oppositionin taking him from his books and drawings, and placing a mallet,chisel, or trowel in his hand, till, rendered confident by thesolid knowledge which experience only can bestow, he was qualifiedto insist on the due performance of workmanship, and to judge ofmerit in the lower as well as the higher departments of aprofession in which no kind or degree of practical knowledge issuperfluous."

The first bridge designed and built under Telford's superintendencewas one of no great magnitude, across the river Severn at Montford,about four miles west of Shrewsbury. It was a stone bridge of threeelliptical arches, one of 58 feet and two of 55 feet span each.The Severn at that point is deep and narrow, and its bed and banksare of alluvial earth. It was necessary to make the foundationsvery secure, as the river is subject to high floods; and this waseffectuality accomplished by means of coffer-dams. The buildingwas substantially executed in red sandstone, and proved a veryserviceable bridge, forming part of the great high road fromShrewsbury into Wales. It was finished in the year 1792.

In the same year, we find Telford engaged as an architect inpreparing the designs and superintending the construction of thenew parish church of St. Mary Magdalen at Bridgenorth. It stands atthe end of Castle Street, near to the old ruined fortress perchedupon the bold red sandstone bluff on which the upper part of thetown is built. The situation of the church is very fine, and anextensive view of the beautiful vale of the Severn is obtained from it.Telford's design is by no means striking; "being," as he said,"a regular Tuscan elevation; the inside is as regularly Ionic: itsonly merit is simplicity and uniformity; it is surmounted by aDoric tower, which contains the bells and a clock." A gracefulGothic church would have been more appropriate to the situation,and a much finer object in the landscape; but Gothic was not thenin fashion--only a mongrel mixture of many styles, without regardto either purity or gracefulness. The church, however, provedcomfortable and commodious, and these were doubtless the points towhich the architect paid most attention.

[Image] St. Mary Magdalen, Bridgenorth.

His completion of the church at Bridgenorth to the satisfaction ofthe inhabitants, brought Telford a commission, in the followingyear, to erect a similar edifice at Coalbrookdale. But in the meantime, to enlarge his knowledge and increase his acquaintance withthe best forms of architecture, he determined to make a journey toLondon and through some of the principal towns of the south ofEngland. He accordingly visited Gloucester, Worcester, and Bath,remaining several days in the last-mentioned city. He was charmedbeyond expression by his journey through the manufacturingdistricts of Gloucestershire, more particularly by the fine sceneryof the Vale of Stroud. The whole seemed to him a smiling scene ofprosperous industry and middle-class comfort.

But passing out of this "Paradise," as he styled it, another stagebrought him into a region the very opposite. "We stopped," says he,"at a little alehouse on the side of a rough hill to water thehorses, and lo! the place was full of drunken blackguards,bellowing out 'Church and King!' A poor ragged German Jew happenedto come up, whom those furious loyalists had set upon and accusedof being a Frenchman in disguise. He protested that he was only apoor German who 'cut de corns,' and that all he wanted was to buy alittle bread and cheese. Nothing would serve them but they mustcarry him before the Justice. The great brawny fellow of a landlordswore he should have nothing in his house, and, being a, constable,told him that he would carry him to gaol. I interfered, andendeavoured to pacify the assailants of the poor man; when suddenlythe landlord, snatching up a long knife, sliced off about a poundof raw bacon from a ham which hung overhead, and, presenting it tothe Jew, swore that if he did not swallow it down at once he shouldnot be allowed to go. The man was in a worse plight than ever.He said he was a 'poor Shoe,' and durst not eat that. In the midstof the uproar, Church and King were forgotten, and eventually Iprevailed upon the landlord to accept from me as much as enabledpoor little Moses to get his meal of bread and cheese; and by thetime the coach started they all seemed perfectly reconciled." *[1]Telford was much gratified by his visit to Bath, and inspected itsfine buildings with admiration. But he thought that Mr. Wood,who, he says, "created modern Bath," had left no worthysuccessor. In the buildings then in progress he saw clumsydesigners at work, "blundering round about a meaning"--if, indeed,there was any meaning at all in their designs, which he confessedhe failed to see. From Bath he went to London by coach, making thejourney in safety, "although," he says, the collectors had beendoing duty on Hounslow Heath." During his stay in London hecarefully examined the principal public buildings by the light ofthe experience which he had gained since he last saw them. He alsospent a good deal of his time in studying rare and expensive workson architecture--the use of which he could not elsewhere procure--at the libraries of the Antiquarian Society and the British Museum.There he perused the various editions of Vitruvius and Palladio,as well as Wren's 'Parentalia.' He found a rich store of ancientarchitectural remains in the British Museum, which he studied withgreat care: antiquities from Athens, Baalbec, Palmyra, andHerculaneum; "so that," he says, "what with the information I wasbefore possessed of, and that which I have now accumulated, I thinkI have obtained a tolerably good general notion of architecture."

From London he proceeded to Oxford, where he carefully inspectedits colleges and churches, afterwards expressing the great delightand profit which he had derived from his visit. He was entertainedwhile there by Mr. Robertson, an eminent mathematician, thensuperintending the publication of an edition of the works ofArchimedes. The architectural designs of buildings that mostpleased him were those of Dr. Aldrich, Dean of Christchurch aboutthe time of Sir Christopher Wren. He tore himself from Oxford withgreat regret, proceeding by Birmingham on his way home toShrewsbury: "Birmingham," he says, "famous for its buttons andlocks, its ignorance and barbarism--its prosperity increases withthe corruption of taste and morals. Its nicknacks, hardware, andgilt gimcracks are proofs of the former; and its locks and bars,and the recent barbarous conduct of its populace,*[2] are evidencesof the latter." His principal object in visiting the place was tocall upon a stained glass-maker respecting a window for the newchurch at Bridgenorth.

On his return to Shrewsbury, Telford proposed to proceed with hisfavourite study of architecture; but this, said he, "will probablybe very slowly, as I must attend to my every day employment,"namely, the superintendence of the county road and bridge repairs,and the direction of the convicts' labour. "If I keep my health,however," he added, "and have no unforeseen hindrance, it shall notbe forgotten, but will be creeping on by degrees." An unforeseencircumstance, though not a hindrance, did very shortly occur, whichlaunched Telford upon a new career, for which his unremittingstudy, as well as his carefully improved experience, eminentlyfitted him: we refer to his appointment as engineer to theEllesmere Canal Company.

The conscientious carefulness with which Telford performed theduties entrusted to him, and the skill with which he directed theworks placed under his charge, had secured the general approbationof the gentlemen of the county. His straightforward and outspokenmanner had further obtained for him the friendship of many of them.At the meetings of quarter-sessions his plans had often to encounterconsiderable opposition, and, when called upon to defend them, hedid so with such firmness, persuasiveness, and good temper, that heusually carried his point. "Some of the magistrates are ignorant,"he wrote in 1789, "and some are obstinate: though I must say thaton the whole there is a very respectable bench, and with thesensible part I believe I am on good terms." This was amply provedsome four years later, when it became necessary to appoint anengineer to the Ellesmere Canal, on which occasion the magistrates,who were mainly the promoters of the undertaking, almostunanimously solicited their Surveyor to accept the office.

Indeed, Telford had become a general favourite in the county.He was cheerful and cordial in his manner, though somewhat brusque.Though now thirty-five years old, he had not lost the humorousnesswhich had procured for him the sobriquet of "Laughing Tam."He laughed at his own jokes as well as at others. He was spoken ofas jolly--a word then much more rarely as well as more choicely usedthan it is now. Yet he had a manly spirit, and was very jealous ofhis independence. All this made him none the less liked byfree-minded men. Speaking of the friendly support which he hadthroughout received from Mr. Pulteney, he said, "His good opinionhas always been a great satisfaction to me; and the more so, as ithas neither been obtained nor preserved by deceit, cringing, norflattery. On the contrary, I believe I am almost the only man thatspeaks out fairly to him, and who contradicts him the most.In fact, between us, we sometimes quarrel like tinkers; but I holdmy ground, and when he sees I am right he quietly gives in."

Although Mr. Pulteney's influence had no doubt assisted Telford inobtaining the appointment of surveyor, it had nothing to do withthe unsolicited invitation which now emanated from the countygentlemen. Telford was not even a candidate for the engineership,and had not dreamt of offering himself, so that the proposal cameupon him entirely by surprise. Though he admitted he hadself-confidence, he frankly confessed that he had not a sufficientamount of it to justify him in aspiring to the office of engineerto one of the most important undertakings of the day. The followingis his own account of the circumstance:--

"My literary project*[3] is at present at a stand, and may beretarded for some time to come, as I was last Monday appointed soleagent, architect, and engineer to the canal which is projected tojoin the Mersey, the Dee, and the Severn. It is the greatest work,I believe, now in hand in this kingdom, and will not be completedfor many years to come. You will be surprised that I have notmentioned this to you before; but the fact is that I had no idea ofany such appointment until an application was made to me by some ofthe leading gentlemen, and I was appointed, though many others hadmade much interest for the place. This will be a great andlaborious undertaking, but the line which it opens is vast andnoble; and coming as the appointment does in this honourable way,I thought it too great a opportunity to be neglected, especially as Ihave stipulated for, and been allowed, the privilege of carrying onmy architectural profession. The work will require great labourand exertions, but it is worthy of them all."*[4] Telford'sappointment was duly confirmed by the next general meeting of theshareholders of the Ellesmere Canal. An attempt was made to get upa party against him, but it failed. "I am fortunate," he said, "inbeing on good terms with most of the leading men, both of propertyand abilities; and on this occasion I had the decided support ofthe great John Wilkinson, king of the ironmasters, himself a host.I travelled in his carriage to the meeting, and found him muchdisposed to be friendly."*[5] The salary at which Telford wasengaged was 500L. a year, out of which he had to pay one clerk andone confidential foreman, besides defraying his own travellingexpenses. It would not appear that after making thesedisbursements much would remain for Telford's own labour; but inthose days engineers were satisfied with comparatively small pay,and did not dream of making large fortunes.

Though Telford intended to continue his architectural business,he decided to give up his county surveyorship and other minor matters,which, he said, "give a great deal of very unpleasant labour forvery little profit; in short they are like the calls of a countrysurgeon." One part of his former business which he did not give upwas what related to the affairs of Mr. Pulteney and Lady Bath, withwhom he continued on intimate and friendly terms. He incidentallymentions in one of his letters a graceful and charming act of herLadyship. On going into his room one day he found that, beforesetting out for Buxton, she had left upon his table a copy ofFerguson's 'Roman Republic,' in three quarto volumes, superblybound and gilt.

He now looked forward with anxiety to the commencement of thecanal, the execution of which would necessarily call for greatexertion on his part, as well as unremitting attention andindustry; "for," said he, "besides the actual labour whichnecessarily attends so extensive a public work, there arecontentions, jealousies, and prejudices, stationed like gloomysentinels from one extremity of the line to the other. But, as Ihave heard my mother say that an honest man might look the Devil inthe face without being afraid, so we must just trudge along in theold way."*[6]

*[5] John Wilkinson and his brother William were the first of thegreat class of ironmasters. They possessed iron forges at Bershamnear Chester, at Bradley, Brimbo, Merthyr Tydvil, and other places;and became by far the largest iron manufacturers of their day.For notice of them see 'Lives of Boulton and Watt,' p. 212.

The ellesmere canal consists of a series of navigations proceedingfrom the river Dee in the vale of Llangollen. One branch passesnorthward, near the towns of Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Nantwich, andthe city of Chester, to Ellesmere Port on the Mersey; another,in a south-easterly direction, through the middle of Shropshiretowards Shrewsbury on the Severn; and a third, in a south-westerlydirection, by the town of Oswestry, to the Montgomeryshire Canalnear Llanymynech; its whole extent, including the Chester Canal,incorporated with it, being about 112 miles.

[Image] Map of Ellesmere Canal

The success of the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal had awakened theattention of the landowners throughout England, but more especiallyin the districts immediately adjacent to the scene of the Duke'soperations, as they saw with their own eyes the extraordinarybenefits which had followed the opening up of the navigations.The resistance of the landed gentry, which many of these schemes hadoriginally to encounter, had now completely given way, and, insteadof opposing canals, they were everywhere found anxious for theirconstruction. The navigations brought lime, coal, manure, andmerchandise, almost to the farmers' doors, and provided them at thesame time with ready means of conveyance for their produce to goodmarkets. Farms in remote situations were thus placed more on anequality with those in the neighbourhood of large towns; rents rosein consequence, and the owners of land everywhere became theadvocates and projectors of canals.

The dividends paid by the first companies were very high, and itwas well known that the Duke's property was bringing him in immensewealth. There was, therefore, no difficulty in getting the sharesin new projects readily subscribed for: indeed Mr. Telford relatesthat at the first meeting of the Ellesmere projectors, so eagerwere the public, that four times the estimated expense wassubscribed without hesitation. Yet this navigation passed througha difficult country, necessarily involving very costly works; andas the district was but thinly inhabited, it did not present a veryinviting prospect of dividends.*[1] But the mania had fairly setin, and it was determined that the canal should be made. Andwhether the investment repaid the immediate proprietors or not, itunquestionably proved of immense advantage to the population of thedistricts through which it passed, and contributed to enhance thevalue of most of the adjoining property.

The Act authorising the construction of the canal was obtained in1793, and Telford commenced operations very shortly after hisappointment in October of the same year. His first business was togo carefully over the whole of the proposed line, and make a carefulworking survey, settling the levels of the different lengths,and the position of the locks, embankments, cuttings, and aqueducts.In all matters of masonry work he felt himself master of thenecessary details; but having had comparatively small experience ofearthwork, and none of canal-making, he determined to take theadvice of Mr. William Jessop on that part of the subject; and hecordially acknowledges the obligations he was under to that eminentengineer for the kind assistance which he received from him on manyoccasions.

The heaviest and most important part of the undertaking was incarrying the canal through the rugged country between the riversDee and Ceriog, in the vale of Llangollen. From Nantwich toWhitchurch the distance is 16 miles, and the rise 132 feet,involving nineteen locks; and from thence to Ellesmere, Chirk,Pont-Cysylltau, and the river Dee, 1 3/4 mile above Llangollen, thedistance is 38 1/4 miles, and the rise 13 feet, involving only twolocks. The latter part of the undertaking presented the greatestdifficulties; as, in order to avoid the expense of constructingnumerous locks, which would also involve serious delay and heavyexpense in working the navigation, it became necessary to contrivemeans for carrying the canal on the same level from one side of therespective valleys of the Dee and the Ceriog to the other; andhence the magnificent aqueducts of Chirk and Pont-Cysylltau,characterised by Phillips as "among the boldest efforts of humaninvention in modem times."*[2] The Chirk Aqueduct carries the canalacross the valley of the Ceriog, between Chirk Castle and thevillage of that name. At this point the valley is above 700 feetwide; the banks are steep, with a flat alluvial meadow betweenthem, through which the river flows. The country is finelywooded. Chirk Castle stands on an eminence on its western side,with the Welsh mountains and Glen Ceriog as a background; the wholecomposing a landscape of great beauty, in the centre of whichTelford's aqueduct forms a highly picturesque object.

[Image] Chirk Aqueduct

The aqueduct consists of ten arches of 40 feet span each.The level of the water in the canal is 65 feet above the meadow,and 70 feet above the level of the river Ceriog. The proportionsof this work far exceeded everything of the kind that had up tothat time been attempted in England. It was a very costly structure;but Telford, like Brindley, thought it better to incur a considerablecapital outlay in maintaining the uniform level of the canal, thanto raise and lower it up and down the sides of the valley by locksat a heavy expense in works, and a still greater cost in time andwater. The aqueduct is a splendid specimen of the finest class ofmasonry, and Telford showed himself a master of his profession bythe manner in which he carried out the whole details of theundertaking. The piers were carried up solid to a certain height,above which they were built hollow, with cross walls. The spandrelsalso, above the springing of the arches, were constructed withlongitudinal walls, and left hollow.*[3] The first stone was laidon the 17th of June, 1796, and the work was completed in the year1801; the whole remaining in a perfect state to this day.

The other great aqueduct on the Ellesmere Canal, named Pont-Cysylltau,is of even greater dimensions, and a far more striking object inthe landscape. Sir Walter Scott spoke of it to Southey as "themost impressive work of art he had ever seen." It is situated aboutfour miles to the north of Chirk, at the crossing of the Dee, inthe romantic vale of Llangollen. The north bank of the river isvery abrupt; but on the south side the acclivity is more gradual.The lowest part of the valley in which the river runs is 127 feetbeneath the water-level of the canal; and it became a question withthe engineer whether the valley was to be crossed, as originallyintended, by locking down one side and up the other--which wouldhave involved seven or eight locks on each side--or by carrying itdirectly across by means of an aqueduct.

The execution of the proposed locks would have been very costly,and the working of them in carrying on the navigation wouldnecessarily have involved a great waste of water, which was aserious objection, inasmuch as the supply was estimated to be nomore than sufficient to provide for the unavoidable lockage andleakage of the summit level. Hence Telford was strongly in favourof an aqueduct; but, as we have already seen in the case of that atChirk, the height of the work was such as to render it impracticableto construct it in the usual manner, upon masonry piers and archesof sufficient breadth and strength to afford room for a puddledwater-way, which would have been extremely hazardous as well asexpensive. He was therefore under the necessity of contriving somemore safe and economical method of procedure; and he again resortedto the practice which he had adopted in the construction of theChirk Aqueduct, but on a much larger scale.

[Image] Pont-Cyslltau--Side view of Cast Iron Trough

It will be understood that many years elapsed between the period atwhich Telford was appointed engineer to the Ellesmere Canal and thedesigning of these gigantic works. He had in the meantime beencarefully gathering experience from a variety of similarundertakings on which he was employed, and bringing hisobservations of the strength of materials and the different formsof construction to bear upon the plans under his consideration forthe great aqueducts of Chirk and Pont-Cysylltau. In 1795 he wasappointed engineer to the Shrewsbury Canal, which extends from thattown to the collieries and ironworks in the neighbourhood ofWrekin, crossing the rivers Roden and Tern, and Ketley Brook, afterwhich it joins the Dorrington and Shropshire Canals. Writing to hisEskdale friend, Telford said : "Although this canal is onlyeighteen miles long, yet there are many important works in itscourse--several locks, a tunnel about half a mile long, and twoaqueducts. For the most considerable of these last, I have justrecommended an aqueduct of iron. It has been approved, and will beexecuted under my direction, upon a principle entirely new, andwhich I am endeavouring to establish with regard to the applicationof iron."*[4]

It was the same principle which he applied to the great aqueductsof the Ellesmere Canal now under consideration. He had a model madeof part of the proposed aqueduct for Pont-Cysylltau, showing thepiers, ribs, towing-path, and side railing, with a cast iron troughfor the canal. The model being approved, the design was completed;the ironwork was ordered for the summit, and the masonry of thepiers then proceeded. The foundation-stone was laid on the 25thJuly, 1795, by Richard Myddelton, Esq., of Chirk Castle, M.P., andthe work was not finished until the year 1803,--thus occupying aperiod of nearly eight years in construction.

The aqueduct is approached on the south side by an embankment 1500feet in length, extending from the level of the water-way in thecanal until its perpendicular height at the "tip" is 97 feet;thence it is carried to the opposite side of the valley, over theriver Dee, upon piers supporting nineteen arches, extending to thelength of 1007 feet. The height of the piers above low water in theriver is 121 feet. The lower part of each was built solid for 70feet, all above being hollow, for the purpose of saving masonry aswell as ensuring good workmanship. The outer walls of the hollowportion are only two feet thick, with cross inner walls. As eachstone was exposed to inspection, and as both Telford and hisconfidential foreman, Matthew Davidson,*[5] kept a vigilant eyeupon the work, scamping was rendered impossible, and a first-ratepiece of masonry was the result.

[Image] Pont-Cyslltau Aqueduct

Upon the top of the masonry was set the cast iron trough for thecanal, with its towing-path and side-rails, all accurately fittedand bolted together, forming a completely water-tight canal, with awater-way of 11 feet 10 inches, of which the towing-path, standingupon iron pillars rising from the bed of the canal, occupied 4 feet8 inches, leaving a space of 7 feet 2 inches for the boat.*[6]The whole cost of this part of the canal was 47,018L., which wasconsidered by Telford a moderate sum compared with what it musthave cost if executed after the ordinary manner. The aqueduct wasformally opened for traffic in 1805. "And thus," said Telford, "hasbeen added a striking feature to the beautiful vale of Llangollen,where formerly was the fastness of Owen Glendower, but which, nowcleared of its entangled woods, contains a useful line ofintercourse between England and Ireland; and the water drawn fromthe once sacred Devon furnishes the means of distributingprosperity over the adjacent land of the Saxons."

[Image] Section of Top of Pont-Cyslltau Aqueduct.

It is scarcely necessary to refer to the other works upon thiscanal, some of which were of considerable magnitude, though theymay now seem dwarfed by comparison with the works of recentengineers, Thus, there were two difficult tunnels cut through hardrock, under the rugged ground which separates the valleys of theDee and the Ceriog. One of these is 500 and the other 200 yards inlength. To ensure a supply of water for the summit of the canal,the lake called Bala Pool was dammed up by a regulating weir, andby its means the water was drawn off at Llandisilio when requiredfor the purposes of the navigation; the navigable feeder being sixmiles long, carried along the bank of the Llangollen valley.All these works were skilfully executed; and when the undertakingwas finished, Mr. Telford may be said to have fairly establishedhis reputation as an engineer of first rate ability.

We now return to Telford's personal history during this importantperiod of his career. He had long promised himself a visit to hisdear Eskdale, and the many friends he had left there; but moreespecially to see his infirm mother, who had descended far into thevale of years, and longed to see her son once more before she died.He had taken constant care that she should want for nothing.She formed the burden of many of his letters to Andrew Little."Your kindness in visiting and paying so much attention to her,"said he, "is doing me the greatest favour which you could possiblyconfer upon me." He sent his friend frequent sums of money, whichhe requested him to lay out in providing sundry little comforts forhis mother, who seems to have carried her spirit of independence sofar as to have expressed reluctance to accept money even from herown son. "I must request," said he, "that you will purchase andsend up what things may be likely to be wanted, either for her orthe person who may be with her, as her habits of economy willprevent her from getting plenty of everything, especially as shethinks that I have to pay for it, which really hurts me more thananything else."*[7] Though anxious to pay his intended visit, hewas so occupied with one urgent matter of business and another thathe feared it would be November before he could set out. He had toprepare a general statement as to the navigation affairs for ameeting of the committee; he must attend the approaching Salopquarter sessions, and after that a general meeting of the CanalCompany; so that his visit must be postponed for yet another month."Indeed," said he, "I am rather distressed at the thoughts ofrunning down to see a kind parent in the last stage of decay, onwhom I can only bestow an affectionate look, and then leave her:her mind will not be much consoled by this parting, and theimpression left upon mine will be more lasting; than pleasant."*[8]

He did, however, contrive to run down to Eskdale in the followingNovember. His mother was alive, but that was all. After doing whathe could for her comfort, and providing that all her little wantswere properly attended to, he hastened back to his responsibleduties in connection with the Ellesmere Canal. When at Langholm,he called upon his former friends to recount with them the incidentsof their youth. He was declared to be the same "canty" fellow asever, and, though he had risen greatly in the world, he was "not abit set up." He found one of his old fellow workmen, Frank Beattie,become the principal innkeeper of the place. "What have you made ofyour mell and chisels?" asked Telford. "Oh!" replied Beattie,"they are all dispersed--perhaps lost." "I have taken better careof mine," said Telford; "I have them all locked up in a room atShrewsbury, as well as my old working clothes and leather apron:you know one can never tell what may happen."

He was surprised, as most people are who visit the scenes of theiryouth after a long absence, to see into what small dimensionsLangholm had shrunk. That High Street, which before had seemed sobig, and that frowning gaol and court-house in the Market Place,were now comparatively paltry to eyes that had been familiar withShrewsbury, Portsmouth, and London. But he was charmed, as ever,with the sight of the heather hills and the narrow winding valley--

"Where deep and low the hamlets lie Beneath their little patch of sky, And little lot of stars."

On his return southward, he was again delighted by the sight of oldGilnockie Castle and the surrounding scenery. As he afterwardswrote to his friend Little, "Broomholm was in all his glory."Probably one of the results of this visit was the revision of thepoem of 'Eskdale,' which he undertook in the course of thefollowing spring, putting in some fresh touches and adding many newlines, whereby the effect of the whole was considerably improved.He had the poem printed privately, merely for distribution amongstfriends; being careful," as he said, that "no copies should besmuggled and sold."

Later in the year we find him, on his way to London on business,sparing a day or two for the purpose of visiting the Duke ofBuckingham's palace and treasures of art at Stowe; afterwardswriting out an eight-page description of it for the perusal of hisfriends at Langholm. At another time, when engaged upon the viaductat Pont-Cysylltau, he snatched a few day's leisure to run throughNorth Wales, of which he afterwards gave a glowing account to hiscorrespondent. He passed by Cader Idris, Snowdon, and Penmaen Mawr."Parts of the country we passed through," he says, "very muchresemble the lofty green hills and woody vales of Eskdale. In otherparts the magnificent boldness of the mountains, the torrents,lakes, and waterfalls, give a special character to the scenery,unlike everything of the kind I had before seen. The vale ofLlanrwst is peculiarly beautiful and fertile. In this vale is thecelebrated bridge of Inigo Jones; but what is a much moredelightful circumstance, the inhabitants of the vale are the mostbeautiful race of people I have ever beheld; and I am muchastonished that this never seems to have struck the Welsh tourists.The vale of Llangollen is very fine, and not the least interestingobject in it, I can assure you, is Davidson's famous aqueduct[Pont-Cysylltau], which is already reckoned among the wonders ofWales. Your old acquaintance thinks nothing of having three orfour carriages at his door at a time."*[9] It seems that, besidesattending to the construction of the works, Telford had toorganise the conduct of the navigation at those points at which thecanal was open for traffic. By the middle of 1797 he states thattwenty miles were in working condition, along which coal and limewere conveyed in considerable quantifies, to the profit of theCompany and the benefit of the public; the price of these articleshaving already in some places been reduced twenty-five, and inothers as much as fifty, per cent. "The canal affairs," he says inone of his letters, "have required a good deal of exertion, thoughwe are on the whole doing well. But, besides carrying on theworks, it is now necessary to bestow considerable attention on thecreating and guiding of a trade upon those portions which areexecuted. This involves various considerations, and manycontending and sometimes clashing interests. In short, it is theworking of a great machine: in the first place, to draw money outof the pockets of a numerous proprietary to make an expensivecanal, and then to make the money return into their pockets by thecreation of a business upon that canal." But, as if all thisbusiness were not enough, he was occupied at the same time inwriting a book upon the subject of Mills. In the year 1796 he hadundertaken to draw up a paper on this topic for the Board ofAgriculture, and by degrees it had grown into a large quartovolume, illustrated by upwards of thirty plates. He was alsoreading extensively in his few leisure moments; and among the solidworks which he perused we find him mentioning Robertson's'Disquisitions on Ancient India,' Stewart's 'Philosophy of theHuman Mind,' and Alison's 'Principles of Taste.' As a relief fromthese graver studies, he seems, above all things, to have takenpeculiar pleasure" In occasionally throwing off a bit ofpoetry. Thus, when laid up at an hotel in Chester by a blow on hisleg, which disabled him for some weeks, he employed part of histime in writing his 'Verses on hearing of the Death of RobertBurns.' On another occasion, when on his way to London, anddetained for a night at Stratford-on-Avon, he occupied the eveningat his inn in composing some stanzas, entitled 'An Address to theRiver Avon.' And when on his way back to Shrewsbury, while restingfor the night at Bridgenorth, he amused himself with revising andcopying out the verses for the perusal of Andrew Little."There are worse employments," he said,"when one has an hour tospare from business;" and he asked his friend's opinion of thecomposition. It seems to have been no more favourable than theverses deserved; for, in his next letter, Telford says, "I thinkyour observation respecting the verses to the Avon are correct.It is but seldom I have time to versify; but it is to me somethinglike what a fiddle is to others, I apply to it in order to relievemy mind, after being much fatigued with close attention tobusiness."

It is very pleasant to see the engineer relaxing himself in thisway, and submitting cheerfully to unfavourable criticism, which isso trying to even the best of tempers. The time, however, thustaken from his regular work was not loss, but gain. Taking thecharacter of his occupation into account, it was probably the bestkind of relaxation he could have indulged in. With his head full ofbridges and viaducts, he thus kept his heart open to the influencesof beauty in life and nature; and, at all events, the writing ofverses, indifferent though they might have been, proved of thisvalue to him--that it cultivated in him the art of writing betterprose.

Telford himself thus modestly describes the merit of this originalcontrivance: "Previously to this time such canal aqueducts had beenuniformly made to retain the water necessary for navigation bymeans of puddled earth retained by masonry; and in order to obtainsufficient breadth for this superstructure, the masonry of thepiers, abutments, and arches was of massive strength; and after allthis expense, and every imaginable precaution, the frosts, byswelling the moist puddle, frequently created fissures, which burstthe masonry, and suffered the water to escape--nay, sometimesactually threw down the aqueducts; instances of this kind havingoccurred even in the works of the justly celebrated Brindley.It was evident that the increased pressure of the puddled earth wasthe chief cause of such failures: I therefore had recourse to thefollowing scheme in order to a void using it. The spandrels of thestone arches were constructed with longitudinal walls, instead ofbeing filled in with earth (as at Kirkcudbright Bridge), and acrossthese the canal bottom was formed by cast iron plates at each side,infixed in square stone masonry. These bottom plates had flancheson their edges, and were secured by nuts and screws at everyjuncture. The sides of the canal were made water-proof by ashlarmasonry, backed with hard burnt bricks laid in Parker's cement, onthe outside of which was rubble stone work, like the rest of theaqueduct. The towing path had a thin bed of clay under the gravel,and its outer edge was protected by an iron railing. The width ofthe water-way is 11 feet; of the masonry on each side, 5 feet 6inches; and the depth of the water in the canal, 5 feet. By thismode of construction the quantity of masonry is much diminished,and the iron bottom plate forms a continuous tie, preventing theside-walls from separation by lateral pressure of the containedwater."--'Life of Telford,' p. 40.

*[5] Matthew Davidson had been Telford's fellow workman at Langholm,and was reckoned an excellent mason. He died at Inverness,where he had a situation on the Caledonian Canal.

*[6] Mr. Hughes, C.E., in his 'Memoir of William Jessop,' publishedin 'Weale's Quarterly Papers on Engineering,' points out the boldand original idea here adopted, of constructing a water-tighttrough of cast iron, in which the water of the canal was to becarried over the valleys, instead of an immense puddled trough,in accordance with the practice until that time in use; and he adds,